If you think he’s going to be the next Dan Quisenberry, this is your buy-low moment. Randy Newsom, a 25-year-old righty in the Cleveland Indians system, has put his future up for auction.
He’s selling 4% of his potential big league wages for $50,000, with individual shares going for $20. Each $20 share entitles you to 0.0016% of any Major League salary he takes home in the future. They do the math for you on the site: If he never makes the Show, you’re out $20, but if he goes all Chad Bradford on us and ends up pulling down $10 million in his career, you make $140. More below…
The idea is that Newsom will spend the money on trainers and nutritionists and whatnot, and will have the piece of mind that his family is well-cared for — which will theoretically help him perform worry-free on the mound. And this isn’t a one-time deal: He’s in talks to set this up for other players as well.
Read the site, or this article for the details, but if you’re into following the minors/like gambling, this is a pretty interesting concept. Will it increase your bond with certain players? Given the way people get straight-up stalker time with their fantasy baseball teams, I’m saying yes. And if you live in a minor league town with players participating, how cool is that? You see the dude at the supermarket and it’s like “You sure you wanna buy that beer?”
I bought two shares just because think it’s an awesome idea. That Slate article basically says it’s a shaky investment, but does make the point that this is more microlending than Sharebuilder. You’re not doing this for a huge profit; you’re helping someone live the dream. I can get behind that.
That all said, dude is a soft-tosser (fastball tops out around 83) who’s a little old for Double-A, and he’s been relatively hittable in his professional career. But he’s a submariner, so the velocity isn’t a big deal, he’s stingy with the bombs (great for a reliever), and he threw 7 scoreless innings in the Arizona Fall League this year. You never know…
The Overly Dramatic Truth 
I thought about doing the same thing, as a substitute for fantasy baseball. The Q&A on the site is pretty funny. Paraphrasing, Q: Why would anyone play fantasy baseball ever again? A: I don’t know.
Anyway the odds that this guy makes $10 million in the bigs approaches zero, making this a bad investment but a good entertainment value, i.e., “it’s a good bet, even if you lose.”
I do kinda wish I could invest in his company. This makes a LOT of sense for minor leaguers. 20% of my future (probably nonexistent) earnings for 50 grand that I can spend on Lasix, training, etcetera? Sign me up…
Yeah…I mean, the bonus babies and first-rounders probably aren’t going to participate, and even those dudes only have like a 25% chance of sticking in the bigs. It’s like a 4% chance of anyone after the 4th round having a career, and this dude wasn’t drafted at all. And I have to think most MLB scouts know more than me. (Although…Bobby Crosby?)
But it sure is fun. And yeah, what a boon for minor leaguers. Get a reasonable salary while you grind away in Huntsville with basically no risk? If you’re not a first-rounder and you don’t sign up for free money you’re an idiot…
i love it. anyone want to invest $20 on me?
brady said his favorite band is U2. what a bitch
any band that has a song that starts out, “one, two, three, fourteen” cannot be a favorite band.
that is all.
Update on this thing…I got my money refunded. Basically, it sounded like MLB put the smack down for now, but that they were still in talks to get it going again at a later date so long as MLB – and more likely, the Players’ Association – signs off.
Could be a huge boon for Minor League Baseball, for the players at a minimum, and for the teams if it triggers more interest. I’d hate to see Bud Selig and Donald Fehr get in the way of something awesome, but then, I’m pretty used to seeing that, so I’ll probably live either way.